Metsä Board

ESPOO, Finland, March 16, 2020 (Press Release) -Metsä Board is delighted to announce the winner of its international packaging design competition the Better with Less – Design Challenge. ‘Expandable Eco Street Food Ware’ is a smart and ecological solution that addresses the growing demand for street food packaging and to find an alternative to the use of plastic. This year sustainability, and the dual role of packaging, played an especially strong role among the participating designs.

The winner is a highly adaptable plastic-free packaging solution that can provide a simple and trendy alternative to plastic and styrofoam containers which are typically used to serve fast food. The paperboard container is 10 inches in diameter when laid flat and can be folded up to eight different ways ranging from a cone to a plate. The simple design therefore has many applications and can accommodate many types of food.

Besides saving material, the design minimises the space occupied by the container during storage as well as in disposal and recycling. The Expandable Eco Street Food Ware was designed by Christine Gamboa, a Senior Art Director, and Gaudy Danao III, an Associate Creative Director, both from the Philippines. Christine and Gaudy will receive the main prize of 7,000 euros.

“The winning design is a simple, smart and practical solution offering high variability with minimal material use – reflecting “Better with Less” at its best. It provides a good user experience and is truly environmentally friendly and economical.  Made of a plastic-free barrier board it is easily recyclable, compostable and biodegradable,” says the competition’s chairman, and the member of the jury, Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

The winner of the second prize, 2,000 euros, is ‘Bruk’, a sustainable beverage carton that can be easily recycled with reduced plastic content, designed by Eric Smith from the United States. The third prize, 1,000 euros, went to ‘Razor’ that replaces standard plastic packaging by a minimalist paper box that covers only the razor heads while leaving the handles uncovered. The design was created by Magdalena Schmitz, Sarah Redlich, Mikayla Just and Alejandro Don Flores, all students in product design at the Münster School of Design.

“In the winning designs sustainability and circular economy aspects were well considered and innovatively implemented, and the competition between the top three was very tight. There were many inspiring solutions reflecting a shift in consumer trends from plastic towards more sustainable packaging materials. In some designs, the packaging had a dual role, becoming a part of the product when using it, which further strengthens the circularity of packaging,” says Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

Metsä Board also offered an additional prize of an internship for one student at its new upcoming Paperboard and Packaging Excellence Centre in Finland. ‘Reload’ that allows the storage and sorting of full and empty batteries in the same package won the judges over in the student category. The package is designed by Hamzeh Za’balawi, Franziska Prior, Marcel Diederich and Oliver Ricker. In addition, an honorary mention went to Jasper Chou’s Project FF that is a sustainable glueless container for French fries and ketchup.

The international packaging design competition Better with Less – Design Challenge 2019–2020 was organised by Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group. The competition was arranged to challenge designers to create more environmentally friendly solutions for some of the most frequently used consumer packaging. As many as 146 entrants from 28 countries joined with their ideas. The jury included packaging design influencers from around the world.

Metsä Board

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and forerunner in sustainability. We produce premium lightweight folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners for consumer goods packaging as well as retail-ready and food service applications. We work together with our customers on a global scale to innovate solutions for better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. We aim for completely fossil free mills and raw materials by 2030.   

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, retailers, converters and merchants. In 2019, the company’s sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion, and it has approximately 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 103,000 Finnish forest owners.

ESPOO, Finland, March 2, 2020 (Press Release) -Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, has designed the Arctic Blue Gin package with an impressive holographic design inspired by the Northern Lights. Arctic Brands Group, the Finland-based spirit company, tasked Metsä Board to design the dramatic package using MetsäBoard Pro FBB Bright lightweight folding boxboard.  

Metsä Board designed the package structure, the original graphics, and the embossing. The Northern Lights image was created by printing on top of Envirofoil®, a plastic-free, holographic metallization effect designed by the paper converter, Hazen. It uses 1% of the aluminium of traditional foil laminates– making it economical and environmentally friendly.  

“We wanted to convey an image of a clean, crisp winter’s night highlighted by the flaming exotic Northern Lights,” says Mark Beamesderfer, Packaging Services Director Americas, Metsä Board. “Producing such highly challenging print requires a lot from the material. Smoothness and stiffness is required, so the paperboard properties had to offer a uniform smooth surface, crease and fold exceptionally well, and provide economic and environmental superiority.”

Metsä Board

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and forerunner in sustainability. We produce premium lightweight folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners for consumer goods packaging as well as retail-ready and food service applications. We work together with our customers on a global scale to innovate solutions for better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. We aim for completely fossil-free mills and raw materials by 2030.  

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, retailers, converters and merchants. In 2019, the company’s sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion, and it has approximately 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 103,000 Finnish forest owners.

ESPOO, Finland, Feb. 17, 2020 (Press Release) -The impressive e-commerce packages of the clothing brand Billebeino receive positive customer feedback and respond to the growing demands for sustainability. Digitally printed packaging made by Adara Pakkaus Oy, and printed onto Metsä Board’s white kraftliner, changes prints according to the collection's theme. Digital printing allows for variable printed patterns while optimising order quantities. The high brightness of the kraftliner gives stunning colour reproduction. It is a strong, yet lightweight and recyclable material, making it a sustainable choice.

“Sustainability is an important part of our brand. Most of our clothing is made from recycled materials. We do not make instant fashion, but durable, responsibly produced clothing. Therefore, corrugated board as a packaging material is a natural choice for us. It is important that our products arrive undamaged to our customers and that the packaging can be easily recycled,” says Juhani Putkonen, CEO of Billebeino.

E-commerce accounts for about 65% of Billebeino's total sales. “The changing prints of the e-commerce package have been well received by our customers, and package openings are presented on social media,” Putkonen continues.

Billebeino is a company founded in 2015 by Juhani Putkonen and Ville Leino. The company is named after Ville Leino. When he played ice hockey in the NHL, his name was often changed to Bille Beino.

Adara's digitally printed E-wave kits use MetsäBoard Classic WKL (135 g/m2) on the surface and MetsäBoard Natural WKL Bright (120 g/m2) uncoated white kraftliner on the back. Metsä Board is part of Metsä Group, a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy.

Metsä Board

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and forerunner in sustainability. We produce premium lightweight folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners for consumer goods packaging as well as retail-ready and food service applications. We work together with our customers on a global scale to innovate solutions for better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. We aim for completely fossil-free mills and raw materials by 2030.

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, retailers, converters and merchants. In 2019, the company’s sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion, and it has approximately 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 103,000 Finnish forest owners.